Letters to the editor: Share the cost for road repairs

Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget proposal calls for big gas tax and fee increases. What happen to the long-standing claim that Republicans were the “anti-tax party?” When the oil companies first pushed prices above $4 a gallon during the Bush years, the Republicans called on then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm to suspend the gas tax whenever prices were above $3.

Now prices remain above $3 all the time, and our governor is calling for higher taxes. His claim of “if you use the roads, you should pay for the roads” sounds to me like he is making citizens pay the extra cost again. Businesses use the roads as well and should pay these increases. However, some who use the roads the most no doubt will be able to write off the cost as operating expenses against their income tax and come out even.

Snyder says that business should have tax parity with the individual taxpayer. Why not a dedicated increase on the income tax for individuals and corporations to fund only road and bridge repairs? This would lower the increase, spreading it across a much-wider area and not just car and truck owners.